This invention relates to opacifiers containing waxes, an emulsifier mixture of alkyl and/or alkenyl oligoglycosides, fatty acid partial glycerides and optionally amphoteric surfactants in a certain ratio by weight, but no anionic surfactants, and to their use as opacifiers.
In the formulation of a number of surface-active household products, such as dishwashing detergents for example, or cosmetic preparations, such as hair shampoos for example, particular importance is attributed to the products being clear and not clouding, even in storage. In other cases, cloudy products with a shimmering effect known as pearlescence are required for the same purpose. A third group of products is made with a non-shimmering opaque whiteness using so-called opacifiers.
Opacifiers are fine-particle dispersions of polymers or solids which, apart from water and/or a polyol (for example glycerol), largely contain only a wax and a suitable emulsifier. Known opacifiers are mainly based on copolymers based on acrylic or methacrylic acid and styrene and are not biodegradable. German patent DE 19511572 C2 describes low-viscosity opacifier concentrates based on waxes, sugar surfactants and partial glycerides. Although these concentrates are readily biodegradable, they have high viscosities and are in need of improvement so far as their particle fineness is concerned.
Accordingly, the problem addressed by the invention was to provide opacifier preparations or concentrates based on waxes which would be highly concentrated but which would have distinctly reduced mean particle sizes and lower viscosities by comparison with the prior art and would be biodegradable. In addition, the preparations according to the invention would produce more intense whiteness, but no pearlescence, in aqueous surfactant solutions and, by virtue of their particle size, would be sufficiently stable in storage, even at elevated temperatures. Also, the addition of amphoteric surfactants would have no effect on the stability of such preparations.